Real Football has been involved in a real ding-dong battle with the likes of FIFA for footy supremacy in recent years on both iPhone and mobile. Gameloft’s footy franchise always plays a fast, fluid game, encouraging swift tippy-tappy passing triangles and surging runs into the box.

Unfortunately, the franchise’s Android debut doesn’t make the statement of intent Gameloft might have hoped for.

The issue – as with many of Gameloft’s recent iPhone to Android conversions – is one of control. The trouble is, nothing shows up sloppy controls better (or worse) than football sims, which demand instant and pinpoint changes in direction.

Real Football on Android (or at least the Nexus One) really suffers in this regard, your players continuing to run in a direction a whole second after you’ve pushed the virtual stick in another. What’s more, the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons (which control your kicks) simply don’t work at times. It’s maddening.

The game suffers on the visual front, too, with a noticeable drop in texture detail on the players and pitch.